Conventionally, color printing has been performed by recoating with separate plates which are multi color printing plates. For example, JP-A-2011-126244 discloses a printing technique in which inks having colors corresponding to respective separation plates are added to the separation plates to perform recoating, thereby performing color printing.
Accordingly, when making printed matter, separation data has to be generated for respective inks used for reproducing color of the image during the printing, so as to obtain color of the image in the printed matter.
In a state where the separation data for the printed matter are produced, if ink-colors used for printing the printed matter are known in advance, the separation data used for the printing can readily be generated. However, usually, when producing the separation data of the printed matter, an operator confirms the color of the printed matter and determines which colors can be used for the printing, and then the operator produces the separation data used for the printing. Accordingly, depending on the operation skill of each operator, there is a concern that determination of ink colors takes time, or the accurate color cannot be set for the printing.